How to pair a Bluetooth GPS receiver with your BlackBerry

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June 11, 2007 at 5:23 am · Filed under Howtos

Some applications may need another external Bluetooth device to work. Most of you will use a Bluetooth headset for making a call in a convenient way. (I prefer the default cable-based headset that was packed with my Pearl as it does not need to be recharged and never runs out of power) For getting GPS positioning capabilities onto a BlackBerry that does not have a built-in GPS receiver you need an external Bluetooth GPS receiver. There are a lot of GPS applications out there and we tested them all: BlackBerry Maps, TeleNav, Spot, BerryVine, MobileTracker, Naggie, etc… Since I have posted the “MobileTracker on your Pearl and Curve” article (which is not officially supported yet) I received a lot of emails from you asking me how the heck ‘to pair a Bluetooth GPS’. Well, technically it is quite easy.

The BlackBerry manual tells us about Bluetooth:

Bluetooth® technology is designed to enable you to establis a wireless connection between your BlackBerry® device and a Bluetooth enabled device, such as handsfree car kit or wireless headset. After you pair your BlackBerry device with a Bluetooth enabled device, you can connect to that BLuetooth enabled device when the device is in range or your BlackBerry device (a typical range is approximately 10 meters).

To be able to pair your BlackBerry with a Bluetooth device you need to have Bluetooth activated on your BlackBerry. That can be done in the following easy steps (example BlackBerry Pearl):

In the device options, click Bluetooth.
Press the key.
Click Enable Bluetooth.

To turn off Bluetooth® technology, press the key. Click Disable Bluetooth.

So we have Bluetooth activated which means our BlackBerry is now able to communicate with other Bluetooth devices. We still have to do one thing: Find the Bluetooth device we want to pair and finally pair it.

Some Bluetooth® enabled devices have passkeys that you must type before you can pair with them. That passkey is mentioned on the device itself or in its manual. E.g. a Holux GR-231 Bluetooth GPS receiver has “6268″ as passkey. Make sure your device is turned on.

Go to “Options Â» Bluetooth”.
Click Add Device in the screen’s menu.
A search will be performed and all Bluetooth devices in range will appear in that list.
Select the device you want to pair and if prompted, enter the passkey for that device.
By confirming that dialog the Bluetooth device you will see it appearing in the list.

That’s it. Easy, right?

Please keep in mind that a lot of GPS applications (e.g. Spot) need the Bluetooth GPS receiver to be the first device in your BlackBerry’s Bluetooth device list.

More:
bluetooth.com
BlackBerry and GPS

Gavin M said,

August 7, 2007 @ 9:38 am

Your site is very helpful. Nice work. I have a new Blackberry Curve and a TomTom Wireless GPS MkII. The TomTom will not appear in the source for the GPS even though it seems to be pairing with the Blackberry. I have deleted all other devices so that the TT is the only one but still nothing. Do I need to restart the BB? Any help would be appreciated.

k said,

August 7, 2007 @ 2:05 pm

A reboot might work but usually it is not necessary. Please check out How to reboot my BlackBerry.

How to pair a Bluetooth GPS receiver with your BlackBerry said,

August 13, 2007 @ 2:18 pm

How to pair a Bluetooth GPS receiver with your BlackBerry…

Great post. Thanks! I’ll add a link to your post….

BlackBerryInsight - Deutsch » Wie man einen Bluetooth-GPS-Empänger mit dem BlackBerry kombiniert said,

November 9, 2007 @ 3:46 pm

[...] Share This [...]

Sarriel said,

December 13, 2007 @ 5:42 am

Hello,
Wonder if somebody can help me. Want to sync my BB 8707g using Bluetooth. There is contact between my PC en de BB. But in the sync manager options (connections setting) I can’t change anything in the Bluetooth settings.
Regards,
Sarriel

Star said,

February 8, 2008 @ 10:31 am

Thank you! After reading this…I was able to connect right up!

Star said,

February 8, 2008 @ 10:31 am

Thank you! After reading this…I was able to connect right up!

Live Search Mobile now available for the Blackberry (Beta) by Blogged Bull said,

March 12, 2008 @ 4:42 pm

[...] I see you perking up now. You see the abbreviation GPS. Your Geek juices are flowing and you wonder just how cool this could really be. Well, if your with Verizon, you just don’t have that option. What you CAN do however is hookup a Bluetooth GPS for the cost of two full gas-tanks, which is way cheap considering you now have unlimited access to GPS for the rest of your life for free unless the Air Force and Uncle Sam finds some way to start taxing you for it. If you just got your BT GPS and don’t know what your doing, follow this guide. I already have mine hooked up so lets take a look at the “Configure” option: [...]

barry parsons said,

May 10, 2008 @ 4:54 pm

can anyone help with pairing my nikkai gps to my blackberry pearl?

the phone recognises the blue tooth devise as a gps but when I use the nav software I get messages saying that the gps is invalid?????

Cheers

barry parsons said,

May 10, 2008 @ 4:55 pm

can anyone help with pairing my nikkai gps to my blackberry pearl?

the phone recognises the blue tooth devise as a gps but when I use the nav software I get messages saying that the gps is invalid?????

Cheers

mail to mail@barryparsons.com

k said,

May 13, 2008 @ 4:03 pm

it depends on the gps software. if your gps software is made for internal gps receivers on the blackberry it should techincally work as the pearl maps the bluetooth gps receiver and provides it internally as it would be a built-in gps receiver.